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African Literature Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
African Literature Quizzes, Trivia

African Literature Trivia

African Literature Trivia Quizzes

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These quizzes cover a variety of African authors. If you are interested in quizzes about the writing of a specific author, please look for them under the author's name.
6 African Literature quizzes and 65 African Literature trivia questions.
1.
  Acclaimed African Authors    
Classification Quiz
 15 Qns
This is a classification quiz. Here are 15 book titles that must be attributed to three excellent African authors. Have a good time.
Easier, 15 Qns, masfon, Dec 28 23
Easier
masfon gold member
Dec 28 23
176 plays
2.
  African Tales   best quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
All of these works are set in Africa, and most written by a citizen of the country in which they are set. Can you match each title with the country in which it is primarily or completely set?
Average, 10 Qns, looney_tunes, Apr 10 22
Average
looney_tunes editor
Apr 10 22
196 plays
3.
  Tales From the Tip of Africa    
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
For a relatively young country situated at the tip of the African continent, South Africa has a rich heritage of writing talent emanating from its shores. Match the title of the book given to the author responsible for the work.
Easier, 10 Qns, KayceeKool, Aug 29 22
Easier
KayceeKool gold member
Aug 29 22
138 plays
4.
  Let's Write about Nigeria    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Nigeria has produced a good number of fascinating books and amazing authors. How much do you really know about their literature? Check out if you can guess the right answers to my questions.
Average, 10 Qns, Tarkowski, Jun 26 21
Average
Tarkowski
Jun 26 21
195 plays
5.
  African Novels    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Here are ten questions on Twentieth Century African novels.
Tough, 10 Qns, pericles34, Dec 27 16
Tough
pericles34 gold member
556 plays
6.
  African Novels Part Two    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Part Two of my African Novel quiz. Ten questions about 21st Century African Literature.
Average, 10 Qns, pericles34, Dec 27 16
Average
pericles34 gold member
268 plays
trivia question Quick Question
In what country is "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series set?

From Quiz "African Novels Part Two"




Related Topics
  Achebe, Chinua [Literature] (2 quizzes)

  Adamson, Joy (Born Free) [Literature] (2 quizzes)

  Courtenay, Bryce [Literature] (4 quizzes)


African Literature Trivia Questions
1. What is the name of the book, written by Chimamanda Adichie, where the heroine is the very observant girl, Kambili? (It may remind you of gardens.)

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: "Purple Hibiscus"

First published in 2003, the story centres around a teenage girl named Kambili Achike. Set around the time when Nigeria was newly independent and facing a lot of political and economic instability, it tells the story of her life, growing up in an affluent environment and overprotected by an over-enthusiastic Catholic father.

2. In 2003, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie released her first novel; what was it?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Purple Hibiscus

Adichie is a Nigerian of the Igbo people. "Purple Hibiscus" follows 15 year old Kambili as she comes of age in a world bookended by her domineering father and free-spirited aunt.

3. Who wrote the 1958 classic "Things Fall Apart"?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Chinua Achebe

Achebe was born in 1930 in Nneobi, Nigeria. He is a member of the Igbo tribe. His other well-known works include "Anthills of the Savannah", "Arrow of God", and "A Man of the People".

4. What classic novel by Chinua Achebe tells the story of Okonkwo, a highly placed man in the pre-colonial society who later kills his foster son?

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: "Things Fall Apart"

He wanted so much to prove his bravery that he ended up killing his foster son, Ikemefuna, on a journey undertaken by the clansmen to sacrifice the boy, despite being warned not to have a hand in the issue by an elderly sage. He later commits suicide after things started to fall apart.

5. In "Things Fall Apart," why is Okonkwo exiled from his home village?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: His gun explodes and it kills a boy

While the killing was an accident somebody had to pay the price for a death. But because it was only an accident Okonkwo is only exiled from his people for a few years.

6. His 2004 novel "The Wizard of the Crow" was originally written in Gikuyu but translated by the author into English. What is this author's name?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Ngugi wa Thiong'o

"Murogi was Kagogo" was published in 2004. The English translation, "The Wizard of the Crow" was published in 2006.

7. Who wrote the 1965 classic "The River Between"?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o was born in Kenya in 1938. Ngũgĩ has refused to write in English anymore. His 2006 novel "The Wizard and the Crow" was written in his native Kikuyu and then translated by the author into English.

8. Which novel, written by Cyprian Ekwensi, is about a man, who traveled to a lot of places, seeking to avenge the death of his wife?

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: "The Passport of Mallam Ilia"

In the book, Mallam Ilia is on a train and tells the thrilling story of his life to a fellow passenger (who is actually his son): how he had sought to avenge the death of his wife, Zarah, caused by the fiendish Usuman. He had earlier fulfilled his cause when Usuman fell overboard during their final braul, but he too died on the train that same day.

9. The Post-modern "Wizard of the Crow" can be seen as a critique of the Moi regime in Kenya. What is the the name of the imaginary country that is a stand in for Kenya in the novel?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Abruria

The "Wizard of the Crow" follows the lives of several people who are tied to the authoritarian rule of the Leader in post-Cold War Africa.

10. Who wrote the 1948 novel "Cry, the Beloved Country"?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Alan Paton

Paton was a South African teacher and Reform school administrator. From the 1940s until the late 1960s Paton was leader of the anti-Apartheid South African Liberal Party.

11. Which Nigerian author was the first African to win a Nobel Prize for literature?

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: Wole Soyinka

Soyinka is known for his numerous literary works as well as his criticism of the Nigerian government, which earned him a couple of years in prison. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.

12. In what 2006 novel does Lisa Fugard approach the dichotomies of White/Black and Afrikaner/English in Apartheid and post-Apartheid South Africa?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Skinner's Drift

In "Skinner's Drift" the protagonist, Eva van Rensburg, returns to South Africa after being gone for ten years. Looking through her dead mother's diaries, Eva must come to understand the lives of her English mother and Afrikaner father.

13. In "Cry, the Beloved Country", to what city does Stephen Kumalo travel to find his sister?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Johannesburg

It is only once Kumalo is there that he finds out his son has murdered a white man in Johannesburg.

14. In "Skinner's Drift," Fugard also exemplifies the isolation of South Africa from its post-colonial neighbors. To do this she places the van Rensburg farm on the border with which country?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Botswana

The van Rensburg farm is disconcerted when soldiers arrive to put up a fence dividing the border between South Africa and Botswana.

15. Who wrote the 1962 novel "Ambiguous Adventure"?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Cheikh Hamidou Kane

Cheikh Hamidou Kane was born in 1928 in Senegal. Like Samba Diallo, the hero of "Ambiguous Adventure", he studied at a Koranic School and then later studied philosophy in Paris.

16. Chimamanda Adichie's books have reinvigorated African literature as a whole and are drawing a new generation to Africa's literature. Which of her books is about the years of the Nigerian civil war?

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: "Half of a Yellow Sun"

The book dwells on the happenings of the civil war from the perspective of three individuals: Ugwu, Olanna, and Richard.

17. The author of the series "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," Alexander McCall Smith, was born in what African nation?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: South Rhodesia (now, Zimbabwe)

The first book in the series, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" was written in 1998. It is now a television series produced by the BBC and HBO.

18. In "Ambiguous Adventure" which member of the Diallobes determines that Samba Diallo must go to the Western School?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Most Royal Lady

The Most Royal Lady made many of the tough decisions since she felt her brother the chief should not be allowed to make decisions that could turn out to be wrong.

19. Still on Chimamanda Adichie's books, which one is about Ifemelu's new life in America, and he friend Obinze?

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: "Americanah"

The novel, first published in 2013, has won a lot of prizes including the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction. It talks about Ifemelu's life in America, having to cope with being regarded as black for the first time and her new very successsful blog, as well as Obinze's exploits in England and his later success. It was partly based on Adichie's personal experience.

20. In what country is "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series set?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Botswana

While the first novel is from the 20th Century, as of 2009 Smith has published nine sequels in the 21st.

21. In 2006 Tsitsi Dangarembga released "The Book of Not." The novel is a sequel to what 1988 work of Dangarembga's?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Nervous Conditions

"Nervous Conditions" won the 1988 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Africa.

22. What event does the novel "God's Bits of Wood" chronicle?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Strike on the Dakar-Niger Railroad

The novel travels up and down the entire line showing how different communities and workers were reacting to the strike.

23. Permit me to end on a sad note. What became of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the celebrated writer and activist?

From Quiz Let's Write about Nigeria

Answer: He was hanged.

His earlier writing, such as the play 'Transistor Radio', was satirical of Nigerian society as a whole; his later work became more political and critical of the government's refusal to allow the Ogoni people autonomy in their dealings with those who were exploiting their lands. Poor Ken, yet another active critic of the military government, was convicted of murdering four Ogoni chiefs in 1994. Encyclopaedia Nigerianna states that "after several months of trial... Saro-Wiwa and eight others were sentenced to death by hanging. To the shock of the entire world, they were executed on November 10, 1995."

24. Chimamanda Adichie's second novel, 2007's "Half of the Yellow Sun," is set during the War of Independence in what short-lived unrecognized state?

From Quiz African Novels Part Two

Answer: Biafra

The breakaway Republic of Biafra existed from 1967-1970. The title, "Half of the Yellow Sun," describes the flag of Biafra. It was only recognized by Gabon, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania and Zambia.

25. Who wrote the 1956 novel "Houseboy"?

From Quiz African Novels

Answer: Ferdinand Oyono

Oyono was born in Cameroon in 1929. After his first two novels, he joined the Foreign Service for Cameroon and has served as Ambassador to Liberia, France and the United States. He has also headed the UNICEF New York Office.

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Last Updated Nov 01 2025 5:51 AM
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